Live Animal Export Independent Review

Purpose

To inform all live animal export industry participants that the independent review of the cost base and charges of the Live Animal Export Certification Program has commenced.

Key Points

As part of implementing changes to cost recovery arrangements in late 2015, the minister agreed to a request for an independent review of the cost base of the Live Animal Exports Program. The review was scheduled to commence in 2017, allowing time for data to be collected on exporters operating under the approved arrangement model.

In June 2017 the Minister approved the Terms of Reference for the review.

The review is to validate the cost recovery model, all costs (and therefore prices) currently applied to live animal and reproductive material exports. In particular, the review is to consider:

if the costs being recovered by the department are legitimate costs for industry (and not costs of government)

the appropriateness of the existing cost recovery model and price settings

how all departmental costs are attributed to the live animal export arrangement and particular sectors within the arrangement (i.e. livestock and non-livestock sectors)

whether the model is appropriate, considering the reforms that have been undertaken and are planned for the live animal export programme

whether the arrangement is defensible, equitable and consistent with Australian Government cost recovery guidelines

Following a procurement process, Pricewaterhouse Coopers Consulting (Australia) Pty Ltd has been engaged to carry out the independent review.

The review is to include consultation with relevant industries through an Industry Consultative Committee and an electronic stakeholder feedback form.

The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources is establishing a new Live Animal Export Finance Industry Consultative Committee (LAEFICC) to support the conduct of the independent review and implementation of any agreed outcomes. LAEFICC will also provide an ongoing forum for consultation with industry on the department’s Live Animal Export cost recovery arrangement.

Industry membership to the LAEFICC will be drawn from relevant industry sectors

The stakeholder feedback period has been extended till Friday, 3 November 2017. Feedback can be provided through the LAEFICC and the electronic stakeholder feedback form​ provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Instructions

All industry participants are encouraged to:

Provide feedback through the LAEFICC or electronic form provided by PricewaterhouseCoopers in the stakeholder engagement period.

Further Information

Should you have further enquiries about the review or the committee, please contact the department at
Cost Recovery.

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